Chapter 3

Amy had tried to get some rest, but this mornings family meeting weighed on her mind too much. She was having a hard time understanding Lou's reasoning. She decides she had to tell Ty now. She opened her laptop to Skype him but he didn't answer. She then looked for her phone to send him a text. The more she looked the more she was getting upset. " DAMN, I left it on the kitchen table" she said to herself. She was hoping Lou was in her room as she entered the mud room. Amy stopped and listened before she gently shut the door behind her. She heard nothing and felt relieved.

As Amy turned to enter the kitchen, she gasped. "Oh my God! LOU." She immediately reaches over picks up the phone and dials 911. After giving the operator her location, the operator asked Amy what she sees. Amy tells the operator that Lou is unconscious on the floor and has a big gash on her head , with blood everywhere. The operator asked Amy who Lou was to her and Amy said "she's my sister".

"Okay Amy my name is Kelley. I need to ask you a few more questions so I can relay the information to the Paramedics, Okay"

"Yes"

"First off can you tell if she is breathing."

"Yes"

"Okay, do you feel comfortable checking her pulse for me?"

There was a momentary pause before Amy took control of herself to check Lou's pulse. "Lou's pulse is there but it's weak" Amy told her.

"Amy, the Paramedics should be arriving any minute now ."

"Yes, I hear them now. Thank you." Amy hangs up as she rushes to the porch.

As Amy is riding in the ambulance, she calls Jack. "Grandpa, it's Lou" she says with a strained voice. Before she could say another word Jack interrupted her. " Don't you worry Amy. Lisa and I have a meeting with our lawyer in 30 minutes, we will" was all he said when he heard a radio going off in the background. "Where are you Amy?"

"I'm in an ambulance Grandpa. I walked into the kitchen to find Lou on the floor unconscious in a pool of blood."

"We'll meet you at the hospital."

Lisa was listening to only one side of the story but knew Jack well enough to tell that his demeanor changed just seconds before he hung up. "Come on Lisa, we need to get to the hospital. I'll explain on the way. But first call and cancel our appointment…... we won't make it."

Amy was trying to reach her dad when she saw Jack and Lisa walking in. Amy wanted to run over and hugged her grandpa, but knew in her condition she couldn't. "How is she," he asked.

"I haven't heard a word since they wheeled her in. I've been trying to reach dad but he's not picking up."

"I'll try Cassey, she might know where he is." Lisa said.

Lisa knew Jack and Amy were very upset with what Lou was doing but she also knew that right now that meant nothing to them because of the love they all shared for one another. Just as those thoughts ended Cassy answered her phone. "Hello"

"Cassey….. this is Lisa, do you happen to know where Tim is, Amy has been trying to reach him?"

""Yes, he's in my room lying down. Is something wrong?"

"Well all I know right now is, Amy went into the ranch house and found Lou unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood. Will you bring Tim down here?"

"Yes, we'll be there as soon as we can."

Dr. Kelly walks into the waiting room and walks right over to where Jack and Amy are. He is known to the family. "Jack, Amy, please sit. First off I wish we were meeting under different circumstances, but heres what we know so far. Lou lost a lot of blood, another 30 minutes and she might not of made it. It took 14 stitches to close up that cut on here scalp. We are giving her blood transfusions as I speak. We took an x- ray to make sure she didn't have a fractured skull, Dr Kelly paused….cleared his throat then continued. We did however see something that didn't look good. He paused again looking right into Jacks eyes, Lou has a brain tumor about the size of a walnut. We believe that it might be the reason she fell and hit her head.

Jack froze. Amy, who was sitting hold hands with Lisa, turned to her, her bottom lip quivering, tears flowing down her checks. Reaches out as Lisa leans in to give her a hug.

The Dr. who has been through many times, backs off and gives them some time. One of the trauma nurses come up to him and speaks quietly to him. This movement unfreezes Jack. "Was that about Lou?"

"No Jack. That was about another patient. Look Jack. Once we get Lou stable enough we are going to have to remove that tumor. The earliest we will be able to operate will be in the morning. I have a top brain surgeon coming in from Vancouver. She should be here this evening. Jack we will do our best for Lou, you know that right."

"Yes, Gene I do."

Just then Jack sees Tim and Cassey coming thru the doors. Jack chocks his head toward the doors leans in and tells Gene, "I do my best to keep him under control."

"Thanks Jack" the Dr. whispers and walks back to the emergency room.

"Where the HELL is he going?" Tim asks Jack as he points toward the Dr.

"You best keep your voice down Tim. The last time you were in here they almost had you arrested for being to much of a pain in the you know what. Listen, lets all go outside for a few minutes and I'll explain what Dr. Kelly said. We need to have a plan."

Tim could see by the concern on Jacks face, that he just needed to shut up and listen.

After Jack had explained to Tim and Cassy what the Dr. said, Jack asked if anyone of them had Peter's number. "I do," Lisa said.

"Why would you have Peter's number?" Tim asked with a negative tone.

"For times just like this if you really must know…... Hell Tim, I even have Janet's and Miranda's numbers with me." Lisa spat back at him.

"Look, that's enough out of you Tim, we got bigger things to deal with."

Tim was going to say something but Cassy got in front of him looked him right in the eyes as she shook her head NO.

"This is what I'm thinking, Jack starts out. We have two vehicles here. I will call Peter and see if he can come and watch the girls for a few days till we get this….. mess under control a little. Them I going to get Georgie out of school so I can be the one to tell her. Jack had to swallow hard to get that lump out of his throat in order to continue. After I get Georgie we will swing by and pick up Katie before we head home. Tim you will have to go and take Lou's place at Maggie's this afternoon. Lisa can you go to the ranch and clean up that blood in the kitchen before the girls get home. Amy do you mind staying here for a little while."

"No problem Grandpa." she answered in between sniffles.

"What can I do?" Cassy asked. " I need to be a part of this."

Jack walked over and gave Cassy a hug. "Thank you Cassy, that means a lot to all of us. Why don't you go to the ranch and help Lisa with the cleanup. Tim you go with them and make sure the horses have plenty of water and feed. I don't think Georgie will want to help with night check tonight. Maybe Cassy when Tim leaves for Maggie's you could go with him and help out there."

"Okay before any of us leaves, Lisa hand me your phone so I can call Peter."

"Here it's ringing." Jack starts to walk away when Peter answers. "Peter, it's Jack,…. you got a minute?"

Peter had known his ex grandfather well enough to know if he called something was very wrong. "What happen Jack?"

Tears weld up in Peter's eyes as Jack told him. When Jack was through Peter cleared his throat. "Jack there is a flight that leaves here daily for Calgary at 4:30 I'll be on it and head right to Heartland. Is that okay with you?" Peter asked

"That would be just fine Peter, but if you don't want to rent a car we can have Lou's SUV waiting here at the hospital for you."

"Okay Jack, see you tonight and Thank You for the call."

Peter's hands were shaking as he called and booked a flight as soon as he hung up with Jack. He then proceeded to his bosses office. His door was opened but still Peter lightly tapped on the door jam letting Sam know he was there. Sam looked up, seeing Peter he motions him in. After signing his name to whatever he was doing, he folded the file, giving his attention now to Peter. "Peter you don't look so good. Is everything okay?"

Peter slowly sat down, he looked up at his friend "Lou has a brain tumor. I need to get back to Heartland and take care of my girls."

"Oh Peter I'm sorry to hear that. You go and take as much time as you need."

Peter stands up puts his hand out to thank his friend and boss. When their two hand meet Peter looks right at him "Sam, I want to Thank you for giving me a chance to do what I love again but to be truthful, I won't be coming back. My family needs me now more than ever. It will take Lou a while to recover from this and I will be there all the way. I hope you understand, I have to quit."

"I understand completely Peter. If there is anything I or the company can do to help, let me know personally." They both nodded in agreement as Peter turned and left. The only personal things he had at his desk were the pictures of Lou and the girls. From reason Peter felt at peace within himself as he walked out.

After talking to Peter, Jack informed the other that Peter would be flying in this evening. "Is he going to be staying at the dude ranch?" Lisa questioned.

"Well now that you mentioned it why don't we see if he wants to stay in Lou's room, so he can be close to the girls if they need him."

"I think that is a great idea Grandpa, I'm afraid Georgie is going to have a hard time with all this. Having Peter here and close will help."

to be continued